


Coping Mechanisms

by AZGirl



Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Family, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hallucinations, Secrets, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27051487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AZGirl/pseuds/AZGirl
Summary: Sometimes Mac wonders if the goodbye handshake he shared with Jack that broke his heart didn’t also break his mind. A Whumptober 2020 fill for Day 16: Hallucinations. Chapter Two - Day 17: Dirty Secret. Chapter Three - Day 19: Grief/Survivor's Guilt.
Relationships: Relationship disclosed in Chapter Two
Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952908
Comments: 16
Kudos: 17





	1. Slippery Slope

**Author's Note:**

> Another in my limited series of stories written for Whumptober 2020. This time around I’m filling the prompt for Day 16: Hallucinations. 
> 
> In writing this story, two different paths opened up before me, but I couldn’t decide which one to take. I’m going to attempt to tackle both ideas, but so far only one of them has been written. The other I hope to finish before the end of the month. This chapter has its own ending, but the next is one possible continuation.

**ooooooo**

“Twenty years, it’s breaking you down

Now that you understand

There’s no one around

Take a breath, just take a seat

You’re falling apart and tearing at the seams”

~~~~~ “Heaven Forbid” by Isaac Slade and Joe King

“If I could just see you

Everything would be all right

If I’d see you

This darkness would turn to light”

~~~~~ “Storm” by Jason Wade

**ooooooo**

**Chapter One: Slippery Slope**

Sometimes Mac wonders if the goodbye handshake he shared with Jack that broke his heart didn’t also break his mind.

The first time he thinks he sees Jack, it’s on a mission where nearly everything goes wrong from the beginning, and describing it as ‘fubar’ is a massive understatement when talking about it during the debrief.

He’s frantically trying to figure out something to improvise which would help solve the unforeseen problem of the week, when out of the corner of his eye, he sees what appears to be Jack.

But it’s not. It couldn’t be, and later he decides to forget it happened.

As far as he knew, Jack was still chasing Tiberius Kovacs across the world on a seemingly never-ending hunt for the man.

Because he thought he saw Jack, MacGyver loses concentration for a moment and it costs him precious seconds he couldn’t really afford to lose. Thankfully, he still managed to accomplish what he considered a small miracle and everyone survived the evil plan and bad guy of the week.

The next time he thinks he sees Jack it’s in a life-threatening situation, a situation where his friend’s skills would’ve been greatly appreciated. Desi is great at her job, but she can’t be the partner and best friend Jack was to him. Years of shared experiences had created a close bond between them, trusting each other explicitly which allowed them to work in sync despite their different skills and knowledge. Desi could get him out of his head when needed, but Jack was able to get to the root of the problem and somehow fix it, keeping Mac from getting trapped in his head as often in the first place.

Eventually, he starts to catch glimpses of Jack on almost all of his missions, even the ones where lives weren’t on the line every other minute.

Mac knows this “Jack” is a hallucination, one likely brought about by a combination of stress, wishful thinking, and how much he misses the older man, but it doesn’t take long before he doesn’t care if it’s real or not. He doesn’t care that the hallucination might be a symptom of an illness developing within him. Seeing a Jack that’s not really there is so much better than never seeing or hearing from the real-life Jack that’s out in the world hunting down an evil man.

Many times seeing that hallucination of Jack is the only thing that keeps him alive.

At first, Mac thought the locations of the appearances were completely random, but it didn’t take long before he discerns the hallucinated version of Jack is often positioned near something vital for one of his builds. If he didn’t know any better, he would think that Jack was helping him, giving him ideas when they were needed most.

Months later, when he’s alone and panicking about what to do to save Riley’s life, Mac hears Jack’s voice for the first time since the man left on his hunt. It should have scared him more, but in that moment he was almost brought to his knees with relief.

Jack appears right next to him and starts chatting about nothing, just like he’d done a thousand times before back when they’d worked together. A wave of calm rushes over him at his friend’s voice, and his mind begins clearing. Seconds later, he comes up with a solution and Riley’s life is quickly saved. He swears, as he’s hugging her, he hears a disembodied “thank you” in Jack’s voice, which makes his smile grow wider.

From then on, Mac not only sees Jack but hears him as well.

It’s almost as if the older man he misses so much had never left. And it’s no longer just on missions that he sees and hears Jack, but at other times too. At home or at work, Jack is there more often than not.

Mac could be tinkering on something at his house and Hallucination Jack will drop by out of the blue to hang out. It’s just like the Real Jack, or RJ, as he’s coming to think of the living and breathing version, used to do. In the moments when this hallucination of Jack is just hanging out, it takes a lot of willpower for Mac to not start replying to him – _it_.

MacGyver is well aware it’s not healthy, that he should find out what’s causing the hallucinations, but at the same time he misses Jack so, so much that he can’t bear the thought of the man leaving again – even if it’s a version his mind insists on conjuring up.

When he and Desi break up for good, it’s partially because Jack won’t shut up about how they really aren’t right for each other, that it compromises her ability to protect Mac and the others on missions. When MacGyver starts arguing back to Jack about Desi, he doesn’t even notice he’s doing it. He doesn’t realize he’s talking to a hallucination.

After that instance, he continues talking to Jack when they are – _he is_ – alone, recognizing it’s yet another step along a dangerously slippery slope in regards to his mental health. But it’s Jack, so he lets it go once again, finally deciding not to worry about it any longer. Real Jack would never intentionally hurt him, so why would a hallucination of Jack?

He can’t bring himself to care he might be developing psychiatric issues or that something might be physically wrong with him. Mac simply chooses to believe his hallucinations of Jack are a coping mechanism, something now a part of his life in the same way RJ had been before he left.

Mac no longer questions why the original Jack has not kept in touch or why there hasn’t been any chatter about the hunt for Kovacs to come his way. Instead, he comes to accept RJ has gone completely dark and won’t resurface until the job is done once and for all. Even if it is a hallucination, it’s still a Jack in his life instead of none at all.

Hallucination Jack – HJ? Jhack? – is there for him through every high and low in his life from then on. There to comfort and to cheer him on. There to protect him the best way possible given the lack of a corporeal body. Hallucination Jack is as much his overwatch as ever before despite the inability to physically affect his surroundings.

After Codex and after he becomes the last surviving member of his biological family, MacGyver feels as if he’s slowly falling into a dark hole. Mac is alone in his bed, wallowing in self-pity and allowing himself to finally process the deaths of his father and aunt. It’s not long before the tears begin to fall, and he’s powerless to stop them from coming.

His family is gone, and it feels like he never got to know them. He’s not only grieving for them, but for all of the missed opportunities in life, everything families do together that he didn’t get to do. It could be argued that the best family is the family you choose for yourself, but at the moment that was just an empty platitude. He loves Bozer, Jack, and Riley, and they _are_ most definitely his family, but he can’t help but mourn for the biological family which is now gone forever.

Cocooned in his blankets, he lays on his bed not moving, trying not to think, staring at the wall, and occasionally wiping away a fallen tear. Not long after that, hallucination Jack shows up and tries to comfort him – and that’s when his hallucinations take on a whole new aspect.

They’d started as visual hallucinations, progressed to also being auditory, and now, when he’s at his lowest, they have become tactile as well.

His back is to his bedroom door, but he knows no one has entered the room thanks to one of his improvised alarms, yet Mac can sense that someone is in the room with him, and it’s a presence he knows very well – Jack. Even though it should be impossible, the bed behind his back seems to dip as if a weight has settled upon it. For half a second, Mac wonders if Real Jack hadn’t somehow managed to come home without anyone knowing about it.

His heart begins speeding up in excitement at the idea, but when he turns his head just enough to look behind him, RJ isn’t there. Instead, it’s the version of Jack he’s been hallucinating for so long now. The hallucination was wearing the same outfit he’s been seeing since that first time: Metallica t-shirt, black jeans, leather wrist cuff, and that Mohawk-like haircut from when Riles first joined the team.

For some inexplicable reason, he’s equal parts disappointed and thankful.

Disappointed it’s not the real person, but thankful he still has some version of his best friend with him. Because he needs Jack in his life so badly right now, and misses the big guy more than ever.

In response to him shifting his blankets to cover his head and hide completely away from the world, the hallucination crosses another line: along with Jack’s soothing words, Mac suddenly can feel a hand on his shoulder. It feels solid, like it’s really there, and not just a figment of his tortured mind. On occasion, when a sob tears through him and more tears fall, Jack’s hand shifts to rub his back.

Mac doesn’t think twice about the development; instead, he is simply thankful for the comforting touch, words, and presence of his best friend.

The wish to be able to hug RJ overwhelms him for a moment, but just as quickly he feels guilty for the greedy thought, reminding himself that one day he will see the Real Jack again and get that hug he’s craving.

Besides, there are worse coping mechanisms than continuously hallucinating your best friend’s presence in your life.

ooooooo

**_One possible continuation on Day 17._ **

**ooooooo**


	2. The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter fills the prompt for Day 17: Dirty Secret, though I realize I’m posting a day late (Sorry!) due to being with family. 
> 
> One of the two possible continuations I had in mind when I started writing this story, and it contains *Mac/Riley*, which I felt made the story work better.  
> .

**ooooooo**

“And they come and they go

In the fullness of time

People are like suns”

~~~~~ “People Are Like Suns” by Neil Finn

**ooooooo**

**Chapter Two: The Truth**

The first and only person to catch him talking to the hallucination of Jack is Riley.

MacGyver had been so careful, but after they got together he’d known it was inevitable. He’d considered it a major feat or miracle that he’d been able to hide it for so long, that no one else had managed to catch him in the act or that he couldn’t explain away his odd behavior.

Oddly, it’s Jack who clues him into the fact that Riles has feelings for him and had for a while. Apparently, Jack had gotten fed up by another instance of complete obliviousness on Mac’s part, and had blurted out the real reason for a particular expression on Riley’s face during an undercover mission requiring him to woo a beautiful target in order to get some information.

After that, Mac couldn’t help but think about how much Riles meant to him, and it doesn’t take long for him to realize he’s had feelings of more than friendship for a long time now. It’s not long after they admit their feelings to each other, and Riley moves into his house and bedroom – permanently – that she catches him talking to Jack but perceives it as him talking to thin air.

He’s able to pass it off the first time as being tired from their recent mission where he’d had to stay awake for nearly two days. Riley caught him again not long after that, and he decided he had to tell her the truth, because he couldn’t bear to keep lying to her about it. Plus, he didn’t really want to give up freely talking to Jack.

MacGyver told her the whole story, wondering if he was about to lose the first woman he believed he could have a real future with. Riley asked some questions, making certain Hallucination Jack wasn’t making Mac do anything harmful to himself or anyone else, and then she simply accepted it as just another of his quirks. Sometimes though, he could see that Riley wished she could talk to Jack too – even the version Mac has conjured up in his head.

About a month after Mac let Riley in on his secret, Matty called them and Bozer into the Phoenix on what was supposed to be their day off.

From the look on Matty’s face, Mac had a bad, gut-sinking feeling what they were about to hear would not be good news. And, unfortunately, he was right.

Jack Dalton, the real one, had been killed in the line of duty, and had actually been gone for many months at that point. He and his team died finally, and for certain this time, taking out Kovacs and the terrorist’s top men.

Up until a short time ago, Jack’s team had been listed as MIA. They had gone dark to keep any details of the final push to get Kovacs from being leaked. Jack’s last report had said that he and his team would remain dark for no more than 12 weeks before checking in again, but they’d never re-established contact after those weeks had gone by. All attempts to get in contact or to find the team had failed, and after six months, they were declared MIA.

Analysts soon realized Kovacs and his operation had gone silent and inactive during the time period Jack’s team had been off the grid. Without more data, the only conclusion agreed upon was that there had been some kind of standoff that had decimated both sides.

Higher ups decided to quietly keep searching for any signs of either group, hoping someone would come forward, hopefully from Jack’s team, to let them know what had happened. Nine weeks later, some poor farmer, because of his desire to shelter from a storm, had stumbled upon a scene out of a horror movie.

Kovacs’ last stand against Jack’s team had been discovered, and it was obvious they’d fought to the last man. From the evidence, Jack had gotten Kovacs, but had been too badly wounded to survive the confrontation. With the preliminary investigation over, the families of the men who had died were finally being notified, including Jack’s family at the Phoenix.

They had all been numb after the news and had sat there in the conference room trying to take in the fact that Jack was gone forever and they would never see him alive again. That evening, after somehow he and Riles had made it back to the house, they sat cuddled together on the couch, grieving for the man who had meant so much to them. Tears were abundant and free-flowing for Jack, who had always been a strange mix of mentor, friend, and family to both of them.

With Real Jack gone, Mac had expected Hallucination Jack would likely go away as well. He was wrong.

The next morning, Hallucination Jack appeared while he and Riley were on the couch listlessly watching _Die Hard_ in tribute.

“Yippie-ki-yay! I _love_ this movie!” a voice from behind the couch declared.

“Not now, Jack,” Mac said, trying not to let a fresh wave of grief crash over him at the sound of his brother’s voice.

“That’s not funny, Mac,” Riley said, sitting up and glaring at him.

Mac froze at the implication. “You heard that?”

“Yeah, I heard and I don’t—” Riley had stopped mid-sentence, staring at the place where Mac could see Jack standing.

“Riles?” Mac said, putting his hand on her arm to get her attention. “Can you see him too?”

Riley looked back towards Hallucination Jack, and after a moment, nodded.

“Really?!” Jack said. “Ri, honey, can you really see me now?”

Riley hesitated, looking uncertainly at Mac, who smiled slightly and shrugged, before she turned back towards Jack. “I can see _and_ hear you now.”

Her eyes widened. “But Mac…” – she leaned over and hugged him tight before sitting back – “I’m so sorry. All this time—”

Mac put his arm around his girlfriend. “It’s fine, Riles. I probably would’ve thought the worst too.”

They looked at Jack, who seemed to be sitting on the coffee table watching the movie.

“Jack?” Mac said.

Hallucination Jack grinned as he turned away from the TV screen. Nodding towards it, he said, “You might want to turn that off. Best part’s coming up, and I don’t want to get distracted.”

As Mac dug for the remote, Riley scoffed and said, “You think the _whole_ _movie_ is the best part.”

“Exactly!” Jack said with a wide grin on his face.

Then, suddenly his expression sobered, and he began pacing in front of the couch. Seconds before Mac could ask what was bothering the older man, Jack blurted, “Mac, Ri, I’m not a hallucination, nor is this some sort of shared hallucination due to shared grief.”

“Uh, Jack, you realize the inherent problem with your statement, right?”

“Yeah, bud, I do.” Jack’s shoulders slumped. “You just found out I’m dead and are thinking this your grief talking, but it’s not.” The hallucination claiming to be something else paused for a moment before smiling. “Proof! You need proof! So, yeah…um… How—?”

“Mac, when did your, uh, hallucinations of Jack start?” Riley interrupted Jack’s muttering.

MacGyver thought back to that first time he caught a glimpse of Jack and attempted to recall the date. Meanwhile, Riley had grabbed her tablet, and went through the details of the preliminary report that Matty had sent them regarding Jack’s death, knowing they’d want to know more at some point. When she came across the approximate date of death, she showed it to Mac, who immediately paled.

“What?” Riley asked, looking worried.

“You OK there bud?” Jack asked.

“Okay is not even remotely in the neighborhood of how I’m feeling at the moment.”

As Mac tried to steady his breathing, Riley grabbed his hand and held on tight. “Jack…the dates. They line up. Your first appearance to me roughly matches your, uh, date of…”

“Well, there you go. Proof.”

“At this point, it’s more of a freaky coincidence than proof.”

“What I want to know is why I can suddenly see and hear you?” Riley asked. “Do you know how many times I’ve wanted…?”

“I know, Ri,” Jack said, with a guilty-looking expression on his face. “I’ve seen how disappointed and jealous you’ve been at times.”

“Riles?” MacGyver said, his expression also morphing to one of guilt. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t blame you, Mac. Not really. It’s just…”

“You’ve been missing him just as much as me.”

Riley nodded in agreement, before looking to Jack for an answer.

“I’m not sure, but I think part of it actually is grief in this case. I think it allowed that last barrier between us to break. But I want you to know that I’ve been there for you too this whole time, warning Mac when you needed help.”

Mac suddenly stood. Sounding exasperated, he said, “Do you know how this sounds, Jack?”

“I can guess. Your sciency brain is screaming at ya that ghosts aren’t possible, while the rest of you wants so badly for it to be true.”

Fighting to keep control of his emotions, MacGyver looked down and nodded, too overwhelmed to say anything.

“OK, I’ve got an idea. Another way to prove I am what I say I am. Give me a few,” Jack added before suddenly disappearing.

Riley stood and hugged him before kissing him lightly on the lips.

“Jack was right, you know,” he said.

“I know, Mac. But if Jack really is a ghost, then it means we haven’t lost him forever.”

Jack suddenly reappeared in the kitchen and walked towards them. “This is perfect,”—Jack rubbed his hands together, looking pleased—“Call Bozer and ask him what he’s doing right now. If I’m a hallucination, a fig newton of your imagination, then there is no way I, _you_ , could know that Matty just asked Bozer to make a mask of a senator getting death threats, right?”

MacGyver muttered “figment” as Riley snatched Mac’s phone off of the coffee table and handed it to him. He immediately dialed Boze’s number, putting the phone on speaker right after.

“Hey man,” Bozer said. “I was going to call you. I know we were supposed to get together to watch a bunch of Jack’s favorite movies, but Matty’s got me making a mask so someone can act as a decoy for a senator getting death threats.”

Mac’s legs turned to jelly at those words, and Riley didn’t seem quite as steady anymore either.

“It’s okay, Boze. We,”—Mac cleared his throat—“We, uh, can save some movies for another time.”

“Thanks, Mac. Sorry about today.”

“It’s fine. I understand and Jack would too,” Mac said, looking towards Jack, who nodded. “Later.”

Once the call disconnected, both Mac and Riley sat on the couch looking both shocked and dumbfounded.

It was an unknown amount of time later before Mac’s mind could truly grasp the idea that his hallucination might have been a ghost all along.

“I, uh… How, Jack? Conservation of energy? There really is an afterlife? Some other unexplained phenom—?”

“The better question might be ‘why?’” Riley said, interrupting Mac, who was gearing up to try and figure out the science.

“I’ve no idea, Ri. It wasn’t until after I’d got Kovacs for good, that I realized I was the last man standing, and not for long either, once I discovered how bad my wound was.” Jack ran a hand over the stubble on his face. “I was lying there, thinking of you two. Thinking of life’s regrets. As it became more difficult for me to breathe, and I was feeling colder and colder, it occurred to me how I was breaking my promise to always keep watch over you bud – you go kaboom, I go kaboom. Ya know?” Jack looked at him, and MacGyver nodded. “My vision went black, and the next thing I know I’m in some warehouse, hearing my name. Dude, I think it was your voice I had been drawn to.

“I don’t know where I’d go in between, but I would show up during your missions, ones I think you would’ve liked to have me along. When you saw me that first time, things just snowballed from there. I visited you too, Riley, but you never saw me, though sometimes I think you knew someone was there.”

Mac looked over at Riley, whose eyes widened and tears started gathering before she nodded.

“So, what now, Jack?” he asked. “Now that we know you’re dead, does that mean…g-goodbye?”

“Naw, man. I’m here for as long as you need me. Should’a fessed up a while ago, but I couldn’t stand the idea of hurting you like that and decided to wait to tell you the truth.”

“Jack,” Mac said after swallowing past the lump in his throat. “Please stay as long as you want.”

Riley smiled and nodded. “Stay. I’m not ready to let you go yet.”

“Me either, to tell ya the truth.”—Jack gestured for them to come closer—“Now bring it on in.”

The three-way hug brought tears to all of their eyes, but more so for Riley who was able to hug Jack for the first time since he’d left to go on the hunt for Kovacs.

When they were finally able to let go of each other, the three of them talked long into the night.

One thing they decided was to keep the ghost formerly known as the hallucination of Jack a secret. Mac and Riley didn’t want people to think they were crazy because Jack didn’t think he’d be able to interact with anyone else, despite being able to look in on other people he’d known. And more than once Jack said he would rather not end up as an experiment in Area 51.

Despite a few close calls, Mac and Riley managed to keep Jack’s secret.

ooooooo

It was many years later, and only after Mac had permanently quit being a field agent, that Jack felt he wasn’t needed any longer and said goodbye to his kids, who now had kids of their own.

Though, Jack being Jack, he still looked in on them from time to time.

ooooooo

**_The end._ **

**ooooooo**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the U.S., if you are voting by mail, please don’t forget to read and carefully follow all instructions – especially signing and dating your ballots. Every vote counts. 
> 
> Many thanks to Celticgal1041 for proofing. Any remaining mistakes are Murdoc's fault.


	3. Fantasy Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time around I’m filling the prompt for Day 19: Grief/Survivor’s Guilt. 
> 
> This is the second of two possible paths I came up with for what happens after Chapter One. It’s a little different and also AU, so I hope you’ll bear with me. Just a reminder: Chapter Two has nothing to do with this chapter. 
> 
> Apologies for this prompt fill being a bit late. Real life plus this story idea stubbornly refusing to be written down conspired against me.

**ooooooo**

“I will try to connect all the pieces you’ve left

I will carry it on and let you forget

I’ll remember the years when you mind was still clear

All the flickering lights that filled up this silent house”

~~~~~ “Silent House” by Neil Finn

**ooooooo**

**From Chapter One: Slippery Slope**

_Because he needs Jack in his life so badly right now, and misses the big guy more than ever._

_In response to him shifting his blankets to cover his head and hide completely away from the world, the hallucination crosses another line: along with Jack’s soothing words, Mac suddenly can feel a hand on his shoulder. It feels solid, like it’s really there, and not just a figment of his tortured mind. On occasion, when a sob tears through him and more tears fall, Jack’s hand shifts to rub his back._

_Mac doesn’t think twice about the development; instead, he is simply thankful for the comforting touch, words, and presence of his best friend._

_The wish to be able to hug RJ overwhelms him for a moment, but just as quickly he feels guilty for the greedy thought, reminding himself that one day he will see the Real Jack again and get that hug he’s craving._

_Besides, there are worse coping mechanisms than continuously hallucinating your best friend’s presence in your life._

**ooooooo**

**Chapter Three: Fantasy Life**

An older man with short, grey hair continued to observe the young man on screen even after the bedclothes had been shifted to hide him from view.

“How long has Angus been like this?” he asked.

“My patient’s condition has continued to deteriorate as of late,” the doctor replied. “We managed to trace its beginning back to the last time you visited him – over six months ago,” the man pointedly added.

James MacGyver shifted slightly, otherwise not letting on how he was truly feeling. “Yes, well. It couldn’t be helped. My work and…” James sighed and then shook his head. “Doctor, given the change in my situation, I feel I must be honest with you. Last time I was here, I told Angus that I was diagnosed with cancer, and wouldn’t be around for a while as I got treatment.”

“And what is your current status?” the doctor asked.

James turned away from the monitor to look out of the window. “The treatments haven’t been as effective as I’d hoped, and I’m dying.”

The doctor glanced towards the screen and then back towards his patient’s father. “I’m very sorry to hear that. And, actually, that puts a lot of things into perspective.”

“What do you mean?”

“Based on the observations of the orderlies and other doctors, and because you haven’t been to visit in so long, I think Angus believes you have already died. That he is alone, which is why he’s become even more dependent on his hallucinations and fantasy life.”

James bowed his head for a moment before lifting it again. “Do you think it would help Angus if he were to see me?”

The doctor gestured for James to follow him to the small conference table and sat down before answering. “No, I don’t. It would only confuse him and set him back even further. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but I need to look out for my patient.”

“I-I understand, doctor. As much as I would like to talk to him, interact with him one-to-one, I probably won’t be able to come back again, so it’s probably for the best I’m already gone to him.” James gestured back towards the monitor, which showed the same view as minutes ago. “When he’s not, uh,… How is he usually?” James asked.

“Usually, he’s happy pretending he’s on a mission for your think tank, saving people and the world on a regular basis with his friends.” The doctor gestured towards the coffee urn on the table, but the other man shook his head at the offer. “As you know, we have to be extremely careful what materials our patient is allowed to interact with. His intelligence and ability to improvise makes it difficult to keep him in his room, let alone the ward.”

The older man rubbed at his tired eyes. “His improvisation talent saved his life more than once while he was in the Army.”

“But unfortunately,” the doctor said, “Angus feels that talent failed him more than once to devastating effect. That feeling of failure, that guilt of losing people close to him, plus the long term effects of his TBI have combined to the point where he’s created the fantasy world he now lives in for the majority of his waking hours.”

“I thought the medications were helping.”

“To a degree they are, and we were lucky to find a class of drugs that have helped this much. But the efficacy of the drug, Desiramaline, has continued to decrease to the point where we’re about to switch to another drug in that family, Rusamaline. Regrettably, the family of drugs is quite small, so there aren’t many options left if – when – the new medication loses efficacy.”

“Are there any other treatment options?”

“It is possible we may find a new drug treatment for your son, but it’s a long shot at this point.” The doctor sighed, and continued to speak as he poured himself some coffee. “My goal with every patient who comes here is to see them walking back out again healthy and able to function out in the world. However, in Angus’s case, I doubt we’ll be able to keep him connected to the real world in the long run. He _wants_ to stay in the fantasy one, greatly preferring it to the world outside this institution.”

James MacGyver stood and walked over to the barred window, looking at the lush garden just outside. He’d remained hopeful that Angus would one day walk out of the Taylor Institution, but now he realized it would never happen. It was a waste of such an amazing mind.

James was just about to ask the doctor about arrangements for his son after he was gone, when a familiar voice coming from the monitor stopped him.

“Thanks, Jack,” Angus said.

“Jack?” James repeated as he moved towards the monitor.

The doctor joined him. “Yes. Jack and Angus became family, as close as brothers while working together overseas as EOD and Overwatch.”

Mac had pushed back the covers, rolled over to his other side, and looked as if he was listening to someone, occasionally responding by shaking his head, nodding, or other nonverbal communication.

“Angus considers not saving Jack’s life his greatest failure, his greatest regret. And alas, it was one failure too many for his mind. The part of his brain that was damaged by the same explosion in which Jack perished, already made him susceptible to seeing hallucinations, so it wasn’t such a leap that Angus decided to immerse himself in them. In them, Jack is alive and whole again. In them, they are still working together, still family, and he no longer has to feel the guilt for surviving when his best friend and brother did not.”

“I see,” James said, hearing the defeated tone of his voice and selfishly wondering if he’d ever had a positive role in his son’s fantasies, but deciding he’d rather not know.

James turned away from the monitor and headed back towards the conference table, the doctor following him. At this point, it was best to simply get on with the main reason he come to visit after so long. James still needed to set things up so his son would continue to get the best treatment the facility could provide once he was dead and gone.

“Now, Doctor Murdoc, my other reason to visit was to ensure Angus…”

ooooooo

**_The end._ **

**ooooooo**

**NOTE** : The events of _Chapter Three: Fantasy Life_ take place in the real world, while everything happening in _Chapter One: Slippery Slope_ is a part of Mac's fantasy life. The events of almost the entire TV series have only occurred in Mac's imagination, fantasies, and hallucinations, while he's been a patient in the institution.

Mac and Jack did work together in the Army. However, Jack lost his life in the process of saving Mac’s one day when an IED was tripped. Mac was pushed away from the blast, saving his life, while Jack lost his own. Mac was medically discharged because of the damage he sustained from the explosion, including a traumatic brain injury (TBI), and eventually he ended up in the mental institution. This is _not_ an elaborate set up by Murdoc, but Mac incorporating his doctor’s name into his fantasies. However, if you prefer that explanation, then I have no problem with it. :o]

My apologies for any inaccuracies regarding the doctor’s opinions and the care Mac is receiving at the institution.

**ooooooo**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the U.S., if you’re voting early by going to the polls, don’t forget to bring a valid ID and carefully follow all instructions. Some polling places have encountered long lines, so bringing something to do, drink, and/or eat might not be a bad idea. Or, if you can, go back at another time. Every vote counts. 
> 
> Many thanks to Celticgal1041 for proofing. Any remaining mistakes are my fault.

**Author's Note:**

> Election Day in the U.S. is almost here, so please consider voting. Did you know…? This year (2020) marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. The 19th Amendment says: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” 
> 
> Many thanks to Celticgal1041 for proofing. Any remaining mistakes are my fault. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> *Please do not repost or use this or any of my other works on another site or app without my knowledge or consent. FanFiction and Archive of Our Own are the only two sites (as AZGirl on both) where my fiction should be posted. Thank you!


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